“I wanted to wait a little bit before going, but the last few weeks the indication is it's going to be tougher and tougher to get spots there, especially with the contract I have and the insurance costs,'' Zetterberg said. “So I got an offer last Friday from Zug and I looked into it, talked to a few players who played in the Swiss league; they said it's a good place to be and play hockey.

“We had to make a quick decision. Late last night, me and my wife, Emma, talked about it and we said, 'Just give it a shot; it's going to be fun to play some hockey.' ''

He will leave Friday and play his first game next Tuesday.

“I just want to be ready when (the season) starts over here again,'' Zetterberg said Monday, after skating with about a dozen Red Wings at the Troy Sports Center. “It's going to be a fun adventure to try it out.''

Zetterberg played for Timra in his native Sweden during the 2004-05 lockout, but most Swedish Elite League clubs aren't signing NHL players who don't commit for the entire season.

Zetterberg will be back when the lockout ends, but he's not sure if some others playing in Europe will return this season.

“I know for a fact Russians will probably stay,'' Zetterberg said. “I can't blame them either. The Russian league treats players a different way. For them to play in their home country and not have these (labor) disputes every other year … and they honor the contracts over there. If you sign a deal, that's the deal you get.''

With no apparent progress being made in sporadic talks between the NHL and NHL Players Association, no settlement appears in sight.

“There's always a chance for that (cancellation of the season),'' Zetterberg said. “It's not our decision whether to play games. We were willing to play under the old CBA while they figured out the new one, but the league didn't want to do that.

“If they don't want to have us here playing, we just got to look for some other places to play.''

“I think the fans should realize why this is,'' Zetterberg said. “It's not the first time (Bettman) does this and they should basically see what his main purpose is, if it's to save hockey or not.

“It's the fans that are hurt the most and everyone that's involved around the rink; all the companies that basically live for hockey. We feel real bad as players that we're not able to be out there and perform, but we're locked out.''